


Punch buggy no punch back!!

by H2F



Category: CAR fed, Original Work, car racing - Fandom, efed, obstacle course - Fandom, xhf network
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H2F/pseuds/H2F
Summary: After being let go from the zoo, and evicted from their apartment, Brittney(OC) and her cousin, Abigail(OC) return home to their Grandma's in the mountains of North Carolina. Grandma has started a family-run obstacle racing federation in her back yard and invited crews from all over the world. She asks the girls to race the newly improved tiger beetle in their bear suits. Chapters are posted individually on another site at least monthly and collected here at least a week later (time to ensure they don't think I cheated).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This is a collection of monthly short story (5-2000 words) writing competition entries (chapters) under the same continuing arc. If you would like to see where they are posted originally, the site can be found at https://xhf09.proboards.com/board/1113/competitive-automotive-racing . Chapters will be collected into one place here at least a week after posting on the above forum to ensure everyone there knows that the chapter was posted there first.

## Chapter One

Moving is always more than what you think. There’s more work than you think. You have more things than you think. There is always one more box than you think. But once everything is in the truck, the feeling of accomplishment is more than you think too.

I watch my cousin Abigail close the back of the truck as Jason comes up to me with a serious face on.

He clears his throat. “Well, we’re finished.”

I smile at him. “Yes, everything is packed up! Thank you for helping with all this. Perhaps I can make it up to you this weekend? Can you come for a visit?”

Jason shakes his head. “No, Brit-ta-ney. We’re finished. Done. Me and you are no longer me and you. I told you ‘long distances relationships won’t work’ so this is good bye. Frankly, I would have ended anyways because what we had was not what I had in mind when I dated a hot girl who lives with her hot cousin; especially knowing how we met and how close y’all said you were.”

A car honks and we both look towards it. A bright red convertible pulls up with a driver that looks very much like me but with more on her face and less on underneath it. Without another word, Jason turns and walks to the car. He gets in and leaves without looking back.

I don’t know how long I stare after him trying to work out what was going on but Abigail was suddenly at my side. She clears her throat. “There were about three trillion five hundred billion fish in the sea in 2017. Of those that remain, many can only survive in shallow water.”

I huff out a breath. “Thank you, Abby. There are more fish in the sea and he was shallow. Let’s get going. Memaw expects us before dinner.” I had now lost my job, my apartment, and my boyfriend in the space of a week. I didn’t know what would come after dinner but it had to be better than what was left here.

I sigh, feeling the loss, and head for the passenger seat. I know my cousin is by far the better and more confident driver and I am, equally, the better navigator. I guide us along the familiar route over the mountains and through the woods; to grandma’s house, we go.

As we reach the top of her drive way, I look down to the lake below. It looks like an obstacle course is being built. I try to get a better look but it disappears from view as we pass through the trees.

Pulling up to the house, my uncle is already waiting for us by the steps. Abigail put the truck in park, hops down, and makes her way to him. She goes to bow but ends up smacking her forehead into his belly in greeting.

There is an audible ‘oaf’ before he is patting her on the head and murmuring, “Good to see you; glad you made it hear safe.”

She straitens, looks him square in the chin and says “all mammals weighing more than about 6 pounds urinate in approximately 21 seconds.” Then she strides off into the house.

I make my way over to him and give him a proper hug as Memaw comes out of the house to join us.

In a mix between an upper crust British accent and her standard southern she announces “Granddaughter! How lovely it is to see you this fine day.” I look at my uncle for clarification.

“She changed her VPN and has been binge watching BBC shows; don’t ask why. Was the drive O-K?” he asks.

The tuck continued its three hour long climb up the western North Carolina Mountains. I grabbed the handle in the side of the door as we approached one of the many tight curves that curled up the steep slope with only one thin metal rail separating us from tumbling down the almost sheer cliff face and back to the elevation we started from in seconds. “Oh! Oh, God. Don’t look down. Oh, God. I looked down. Christ preserves us. I’m too young to die. Jesus, help me!!” I screeched as I shifted further away from our impending death while my cousin continued on with a small smile on her face.

“Oh, it was fine. I have total faith in Abby’s driving. Never doubted her for a second.” I respond.

My uncle gives me a knowing look.

“Wonderful!” Memaw continues in the weird-for-her accent. “I have had a wonderful idea for you girls! Just wait until you see. I have had the guest house prepared and shaved 12 seconds off the elevator’s time. I’ll leave y’all to settling in but dinner will be at 7 this evening.”

My uncle snorts. “I don’t know how you managed ‘y’all’ in a British accent, and I’m impressed, but I would be even more impressed to see you cooking dinner.”

Memaw scoffs and raises her nose in the air. “Obviously I called it in and you or Abigail will need to go collect it from town. It should be ready at 6:30 and don’t be late coming back. Brittney can set the table.”

With that she turns and heads back inside. I follow and meet up with her in the dining room. The large table in the center of the room always holds her latest project and today the only difference is the extra maps joining what could only be an engine part.

“Memaw, what’s with the maps?” I ask.

“Oh!” Her eyes fill with excitement. “This is the great idea! I will be hosting a racing competition. Teams will be arriving soon to throw their vehicles at the course. You and Abigail will be one of them! I rebuilt a cute little car especially for y’all!”

I could feel the blood leaving my face as I make incoherent sounds. I finally manage to stutter out “I can’t drive. No! Car bad!”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She places a hand on my shoulder. “I know you struggle with powered transport. That’s why I won’t make you drive, Abigail will. Also, we are trying to win here or, at very least, finish the course.” She snorts, ruining her sympathetic tone.

“Then how will I be on the team?” If she says I am getting in a car she built, I will bolt into the forest. Her last project, a boat, caught fire on its maiden voyage. We had to swim to shore.

“Did y’all bring those bear jammies I had remade after the ones I sent back in Christmas 2012? The ones with the flap in the back, I mean?”

I nodded in response. Abigail’s was a polar bear and mine was a brown bear. The bear species seemed to fit us to. She was a good 6 inches taller than me and I was less delicate in frame. We had heads made to match and would wear them to some of the costume parties we went to a few times a year. I was wearing mine when I met Jason.

“Well, as you know they aren't made with regular cloth. They're fire resistant for starters and I designed them to be used as a zero point harness. I had hoped that you would feel more secure in the car if you knew you wouldn’t get thrown in a crash. Sadly, it didn’t help you. But it should be perfect for Abigail. For you, I have a new mascot bear head that will allow you to guide Abigail from a distance. You’ll be able to see the course map and a view from her car. You won’t even have to be in the car to be a part of the race.”

Sensing my weakness, she hands me a flyer from the table. “Here! It lists what to expect in the course.”

The flyer looks pretty straight forward and I wouldn’t need to be in the car. It would mean a lot to Memaw. After all she has done for us after we lost our jobs at the Zoo, I can’t turn her down. We lost our apartment, she offers the old cottage; we lost our job, she offers that too. She had better not offer me a boyfriend next though.

I look up from the flyer to find her turned away towards something on the table.

“Fine, I’ll join. But I can’t guarantee Abigail will.”

“Wonderful!” The excitement is back in her eyes as she turns towards me with an inch thick three ring binder in her hands. “Here is information on the car, its’ upgrades, and your new bear head. Now if you’ll excuse me I must see a man about an obscene amount of chocolate pudding.”


	2. Chapter Two - August 2020

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The August 2020 chapter for the second Sippy Cup Qualifier and prep for the Silicone Drag Race, a network event. For those reading the races too, you know that grandma has two guys named Forest working for her. Britney doesn't know their names.

#  Chapter Two

Summer has a unique meaning to different people in different parts of the world. When I lived with Memaw before, it was a time of freedom and self exploration. I was free from the daily grind of school. I was free from the peer pressure to become something I didn’t feel I was. I was free from the societal pressures to become ‘normal’, something I still don’t fully understand. In summer, I could go out barefoot and spend the day exploring the nearby woods by myself and it was in summer that I found my connection to and love of nature. Admittedly, most of my connection and love was to the nearby berry bushes that ran wild through the area. Feeling a little at drift and missing the connection I once had, I woke up early to rekindle my love of nature … and to see if the black berries bushes from my teenage years were still there. 

After breakfast, I grab my favorite berry bucket from the kitchen, skip out the door and promptly run into my grandmother. 

Memaw steadies herself by grabbing the doorframe, “Oaf. Where are you off to in such a rush?”

I hold up my berry bucket. “The tall rock path to visit the berries.”

Memaw looks at my feet “Shoes?” 

I look at the sparkly red polish on my toes “Nope.”

Memaw nods. “I had one of the boys brush the tall rocks so there shouldn’t be any berry thorns on that path but those brambles grow everywhere so please try to avoid stepping on sharp things; getting those out of your feet is a hassle when you're yowling. Oh, do you know where your cousin is this fine morning?” She must be slightly tired because her accent is back to mosty southern. 

I thought back to my morning with Abby but it was mostly a blur before the coffee. “I think she said something about fish? Or possibly fishing. Maybe the lake?” 

Memaw looks in the direction of the lake, though we can’t see it from this angle. “Hmmm. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but I may send one of the boys down there to dismantle the pudding cannons. We’ve been so focused on this month’s races that I haven't had them finish taking apart everything from last month. Are you ready for your trip to Mexico?”

I shake my head. “One race at a time. Let’s get past the parking garage before I worry about packing my swimsuit.”

Memaw raises her eyebrows. “It’s in Mexico City.”

“Right? Crazy!” I nod.

She exhales. “I’m sure the hotel has a pool.”

I cock my head. “Wait. Why can’t I go in the ocean?”

She closes her eyes for a moment. “Bless your heart, they taught you nothing in that public school. Mexico City is in the mountainous middle of Mexico. It isn’t on the coast. There will be no ocean. But there should be a pool.” 

“Oh.” Is all I manage to say.

Memaw pats me on the shoulder before continuing on into the house. I take a big breath before continuing out the door to the recently cleaned off boulders that form the tall rocks path to my favorite berry bushes. 

I climb the four feet to the top of the tall rocks and take a deep breath of the mountain air; because these mountains are a non-tropical rainforest, the summer always smells of wet earth and live evergreens. I push out the breath slowly, shoving out all my concerns for the upcoming race with the air. I wasn’t the nervous, anxious me now. I was the wilder version; more in touch with my senses. I relished the feel of the cold, uneven, and rough stones against my shoe-less feet. I could feel the parts of the stone that had been brushed versus those that still had a little lichen left on top. The excitement I felt for walking along the foot wide tall stones was different from the thrill of watching Abby drive through my grandmother's course. Heights had never scared me per say but I did feel a little something being almost twice as tall. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling.

(Want to know what baby cardinals sound like? [https://youtu.be/1tWLDhJ6mjQ?t=90 ](https://youtu.be/1tWLDhJ6mjQ?t=90%C2%A0) )  


The high pitched screeching of nearby baby cardinals returned me to the now so I continued on to the first berry bush on my list. The berries look, as a whole, under ripe. Most will need more time to reach their potential but several look good enough to eat and perhaps half of those make it into my berry bucket. 

A twig snaps behind me. I turn with a growl. There are real bears in these woods but most can be chased off with a growl and a charge. Insead it’s one of my grandma’s boys, well men about my age but she calls them her boys. I don’t actually know either of their names but I swallow my growl and try to seem friendly. This is the one with eyes the color of winter honey and hair the color of several types of trees... with enough muscle on his frame to pull himself into one. The other, I think, is blond. 

He comes closer and smiles. “Hi. I’m not interrupting your berry picking am I?”

I look at the bucket and hope my chin isn’t stained. “Oh. I’m about finished with this bush. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Britney.” 

He nods. “Yes. Your grandma mentioned. Also that you’re single.”

I will kill her. I don’t care that it will get me sent to prison. It’ll be worth it. I can’t believe she would do this! Actually, yes. Yes, I could. “I recently got out of a relationship and... lost my job.. And … Now I live with my grandma. I think I need to take some time to find me before becoming a we again.” 

His smile faded. “Oh. I’m sorry you lost your job. That can, for sure, be difficult. I didn’t mean to assume. I mean. Let‘s start again. Hi, I’d like to be your friend.” He holds out his hand angled up to reach me on the tall path.

I smile. “Hi, I’d like a friend. I’m Britney… again. I still don’t know your name.” I bend down to shake his hand. 

His smile is back. “Right. Yes. My name. Your grandma calls me Forest and I think your uncle has given up on calling me anything else. You’re welcome to call me Forest too.” He lets go of my hand. 

I stand up but feel weird being taller than him. “Oh, ok. It’s nice to meet you, Forest. I’d better get going.” I point behind me and take a few steps further down the tall path. 

He nods. “Nice to meet you too, Britney. See you around.” and with that he turns towards the house, walking away through the trees. 

I hold a breath and take two steps towards the next berry bush. Two steps and I find a bramble covering the tall rocks the painful way. I hiss as I raise my right foot and look down to see the branch stuck to the bottom of my foot by thorns. I look back towards the house. I bend down and pull the branch out from the arch of my foot but I see some dark dots stuck in there that are probably broken off thorns. Damn. It’s a five minute walk normally and this will be a very uncomfortable walk back with an ‘I told you so’ waiting at the end. Better get started. 

[ https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/e/ea/15_minutes_later.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20100822165004 ](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/spongebob/images/e/ea/15_minutes_later.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20100822165004)

My foot is unhappy. I try my best to walk on my heel but the movement still bumps it. I finally come in view of the house and see Abby is coming from the walkway that leads to the lake. “Abby. Oh, Dearest Cousin! Oh, Answer-to-my-prayers.” I extend a hand out to her and she walks faster towards me.

When she gets closer she reaches up to help me down the four foot drop to the ground. “Blackberry plants have stems with ridges and their thorns are thicker than the sharp but thin black raspberry thorns.” (http://identifythatplant.com/blackberry-or-black-raspberry/) 

“I know. I know. But I can’t feel the stone with my feet trapped in shoes. I wanted the connection. Is there a way to get the thorns out without memaw finding out?” 

She raises her eyebrow at me.

I huff a breath. “Well, let’s at least try to get one past her. Did you have a good time fishing?”

She smiles the largest smile I have seen from her since we worked at the zoo. “I caught a fish and his name is Forest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like the idea of writing a racing team too, feel free to join the CAR fed over at https://xhf09.proboards.com/board/1113/competitive-automotive-racing and note that this fed is a happier place then the some of the other feds in the network.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was for the Silicone Cup Drag Race (https://xhf09.proboards.com/thread/15788/xhf-network-presents-night-champions) which will be included in the races work. The was a network event, Night of Champions, where other feds posted an extra wrestling match or CAR race for a special prize. For CAR it is the Silicone Cup and we went with a drag race where contestants had to drag a giant bull statue 1/4 mile (or 402 meters) down the road outside the Mexican venue for the other wrestling matches.

#  Chapter Three - Night of Champions

  
  


Whoever came up with the idea to go to Mexico in the middle of summer is a horrible person and should not be in charge of the winter network event, or they will send us to Alaska. I’ve spent the past day and a half poolside in my furkini making incoherent noises and I blame the heat. I haven’t seen much of my family since we left North Carolina and I feel like that should upset me more than it does given that I room with my cousin, Abby. 

I stretch my body in an attempt to get up. My body seems weirdly tired and my tongue seems fuzzy but what is stopping me most seems to be that I’m suctioned to the lounge chair by my own sweat. In time, I manage to pull my body free, though I feel a little dizzy, and head towards the hotel’s parking lot. This heat is really doing a number on me. 

The cool wind is on my face and I adjust my bear ears headband to keep the flyaways* from going in my eyes. I’m looking around for my cousin when I hear the muffled high pitched squeal of a young girl in distress. Thinking of Abby I head for the sound, though I’ve haven't known her to squeal that high pitched before. 

I find Abby but she’s not the one squealing. Instead she’s driving the Tiger Beetle while pulling one of the bull statues on a cart behind her. 

The cart isn’t the one squealing either. Hog tied to the head of the bull and a gag in his mouth is the blond one of grandma’s boys. I really should learn his name given that I know the cute one is called Forest and that Abby said Forest asked her out. It seems rude not to know the other’s name.

I meet up with the car and bull after their next lap. “Abby, we’ve talked about asking people before we tied them up before.”

Abby sticks her head out the window and looks back at me. “Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees.“ ( [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent) )

I squint at him and pull out his sock gag. “You agreed to this. Why?”

He tried to grab the sock back but is still firmly tied to the bull’s head. “Yes, given it back we are in the middle of a big, very big, test. We need to make sure that the new stuff I did will help the car handle all the bull. There will be a lot of bull in the race.”

My uncle and Forest walk out of the hotel with a phone on speaker between them; the person on speaker is speaking spanish and Forest seems to be nodding in understanding as they head towards us. 

I look at the man tied to a giant statue for a moment trying to understand. What test? Why are we changing the car now? But more importantly “why are you tied to the head of the bull?”

He makes an aggravated sound. “Because I need to know how the bull is reacting, not the car. The car, and everything in it, are perfect. But this bull is acting weird.”

That almost makes sense. “But why not ride the bull instead of having Abby tie you to the head? And why ask her to gag you with a sock?”

My uncle and Forest are close enough now that I can hear Forest translating something to my uncle. 

I see Mr. I-still-don’t-know-his-name try to look at his watch but, again, still tied to the head of a bull. “Because I have soft parts and this bull is hard in an uncomfortable way! I’m glad you have flushed the plane from your system because the race is in a few days but please let us work here.”

Flushed the plane from my system? I turn to Abby to help figure it out.

She’s glaring at him for some reason. Abby looks at me with pity. “[What can you remember from the plane ride?](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02245054)”   


  
  
_ The plane was pre-boarding for small children and all I wanted to do was run to the bathroom again. Maybe if I keep pacing I can distract myself from knowing I’m about to be locked in a tin can and thrown into the sky. I am not a tiger in a small cage but boy can I relate. I pass Abby and head back around towards Memaw. I need to remember why I’m going on this hopefully not one way trip. Deep breaths. We are the face of this fed for a reason. Sure we haven’t won any of the qualifiers but this is a totally different type of race. Mother, that phantom menace, won’t be able to pull the bull better than us because no one can bull their way through better than us. We are one with the bull, we are full of bull.  _

_ Wait.  _

_ Back and forth. This race was ours to win. Just because those scientists have beat us each race does not mean their car can accelerate while pulling something heavy faster than ours.Science has a lot to learn from the beauty and elegance of the natural world. We are wild and free. But not right now. No, right now I’m about to lock myself in a flying metal bird that will be vibrating the whole time.  _ _   
  
_

_ I take a deep breath through my mask next to Memaw; maybe I should have taken the doctor up on those calming pills. She throws her arm out to get my attention.  _

_ “Britney, my dear granddaughter. You look stressed. Are you feeling well?” _

_ I glare at her but don’t speak because she knows. She KNOWS I don’t like the idea of this plane ride.  _

_ “Here, have a tic tac.” she holds out an altoids tin with one mint left. I take the little round offering as she gestures for me to sit next to her. I look at my walking path one more time before planting my behind next to her and shoving the mint in my mouth. _

_ At first the mint tastes like another altoid but it becomes...off. It doesn’t taste like a mint anymore.  _

_ I turn towards Memaw. “Memaw, this mint tastes weird. Did it expire?”  _

_ She looks down at the tin and then at me. “I’m sure it’s fine for you honey. Just swallow and relax into the chair with me. I’ll do some calming breathing exercises with you. Breath in deep, two, three four. Now out, two, three, four, five, six.” _

_ It was about 15 minutes before we boarded and those breathing exercises worked great. I was so calm that I actually managed to sleep on the plane ride. It was by far the best plane ride in my life. And I slept through most of the car ride from the airport too. Maybe the breathing exercises should be a daily exercise for me.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  


“It wasn’t the breathing exercises.” I realize now what I should have realized before. 

Abby takes a deep breath. “[And watch what you eat and drink. Most major sedatives can be dissolved in coke and you wouldn’t taste anything off. Though you should be able to see the little pisces at the bottom if you bothered to look](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15939149/).” 

Memaw had brought me a coke last night as a nightcap; she insisted I shotgun it. I thought it was weird because the caffeine should have prevented me from sleeping but I slept great all night. It must have been the drugs I had been prescribed by my doctor. She said they may cause drowsiness but would help me. I just hadn’t wanted to take them until I was on the plane and then I felt so relaxed I didn’t think I needed them. I guess I did. 

A thud made me look over at the dude still tied to the bull’s head. “Hey! This is great and all but can we get back to the test, please? I need to figure out if the zoom has too much boom, yea? And back up, you aren’t helping to drive.”

Abby scoffed. “[Newly prescribed sedatives increase the risk of crash to almost drunk levels.](https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302723)” 

My uncle looks up at us at that comment. “I’m sorry, what?”

The dude on the bull makes an annoyed sound. “No. We don’t have time for all this. Give me back my sock so we can continue the test. We don’t have long before I have to go do the thing.” 

I look down at the sock in my hand. “Why would you want to use a sock when there are so many other, better, things to put in your mouth? This is just weird.”

“Hey,” my uncle shouts. “Don’t kink shame. You should know better. We raised you better.”

Abby shouts back at him “[Does this look like my kind of bondage to you](https://youtu.be/ub82Xb1C8os)?”

The dude still tied to the head of the bull statue groans and looks over at Forest. “Mother of days. I don’t have time for this. Can I borrow a sock, güey. Also, that phrase you are having problems with means that pendejo was drunk yesterday and is super hungover.”

Forest looks like he is having a sudden realization and his whole life now makes sense. At least that’s one of us. 

My uncle is back to yelling. “You speak **fluent SPANISH**? Why the ever loving hell are we the ones talking to people when you are _fluent in spanish_?”

“Mierda” The dude who's name I still didn’t know mutters before yelling to my cousin, “Gun it! Go! Charge!”

I watch the Tiger Beetle take off at a surprisingly good speed as they attempt to outrun my uncle now chasing after them.

I nod at Forest. “Well, I have a race to get ready for.”

  
  
  
  


*short new growth hairs or broken hairs on a head with long hair that flyaway from the main body of hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like the idea of writing a racing team too, feel free to join the CAR fed over at https://xhf09.proboards.com/board/1113/competitive-automotive-racing and note that this fed is a happier, less gross place then the other feds in the network.


	4. Chapter Four- August 2020

**Chapter Four**

The clouds had been slowly changing shapes as they moved by all day; a rabbit became a very happy dolphin and then turned into a bird. My viewing hammock was near enough to Memaw’s garage that the peaceful setting was interrupted by the sudden whoosh of flames and then a stream of very creative curses late in the afternoon.   
  
I find the source of the curses sitting beside part of a dragon statue describing something that, in my small life experience, didn’t sound physically possible.   
  
I put my arms behind me and stand at parade rest, sort of. “Hey, Memaw. Is there something I can help with?”  
  
She looks up at me before shaking her head. “No, honey-club. This is something that I’m afraid will have to wait until tomorrow.”   
  
She dusts herself off as she slowly stands and staggers a step before standing straight. “Let’s head in and see what your Uncle has for dinner. Did I hear that both my boys will be joining us for dinner or is your cousin on another date tonight?”   
  
I pull out my phone from the hoodie pocket in my summer bear outfit.  
  
 _  
_

_Hey, Abby. Hot date tonight?_

_Nope. Making ants-on-the-log appetizers.  
_

_Chocolate chips?_

_Chocolate chips._  
  
  
I turn to Memaw. “Abby isn’t on a date tonight. She’s making ants-on-the-log.”  
  
“Chocolate chips?”  
  
“Chocolate chips.”  
  
We enter the house in peaceful silence; neither of us want to re-start the argument that has been ongoing since I found out exactly what was in the tic tacs she gave me before the international flight for the Silicone Cup.   
  
Once inside the house, Memaw hollers at Forest and the other blonde guy. “Boys, we’ve got two days to finish testing and prepping the course challenges before we have to truck ‘em over to the Red Clay Racetrack.”  
  
My uncle sticks his head out of the kitchen. “Mom, when you’re setting those up, make sure there aren’t any trees nearby. We don’t need another Table Rock Incidences right now.”  
  
Memaw glares at her son. “How many times do I need to say it. That. Fire. Wasn’t. My. Fault.”  
  
My uncle looks at the two men beside her. Forest clears his throat. “We’ll have fire extinguishers and a fire hose standing by but I’ll check the target area for flammables. I thought we told them to trim the trees back.”  
  
My uncle exhales loudly. “We did, but I don’t trust them to follow through with the contract. Especially after the difficulties we had down in Mexico.”  
  
Memaw smiles. “I think Mexico ended on a great note and we should focus on the positive. The girls won, afterall.”   
  
I scowl. “We can’t focus on past wins. We need to focus on this qualifier. We have yet to even place in any one of the qualifiers. If this keeps up, we won’t have the points to compete in the Sippy Cup.”   
  
Memaw losses her smile. “We can’t focus on our failures or it’ll psych you out. How about we finish celebrating tonight and then we can decide how to display the Silicone Cup.”  
  
I hesitate. “You’re not going to, like, glue it to the hood of the car like a unicorn horn sticking out of the tiger’s forehead, are you?”  
  
A slow smile spreads across my grandmother's face as my own fills with horror. “What a splendid idea!”  
  
“No. No, that wasn’t what I was saying.”  
  
“C’mon boys! We got a few minutes until dinner. Let’s do this!”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like the idea of writing a racing team too, feel free to join the CAR fed over at https://xhf09.proboards.com/board/1113/competitive-automotive-racing and note that this fed is a happier, less gross place then the other feds in the network.


End file.
